Ballistic resistant garments and particularly vests have become standard equipment in many law enforcement offices and military units. These garments typically have a fabric shell, usually of a woven material, and contain compartments in the form of pockets. The shell of such garments generally encircles the torso of a wearer and contains panels of impact absorbing anti-ballistic material such as KEVLAR material, KEVLAR being a registered trademark of E.I. Du Pont, Inc. Such garments and in particular vests are generally designed so that the torso of the wearer is surrounded, at least from the neck to the waist, with the protective panels. The vests are commonly known by the public as bullet proof vests, and by the law enforcement community as body armor or protective vests. Ballistic resistant garments resist and usually prevent penetration by most small arms bullets when worn. In the discussions following, “soldier” is referred to, but with the understanding that the combatant may be a police officer, guard or other lawful combatant. Also, although the protective vest is ordinarily thought of in connection with body armor, the garment can have another configuration, e.g. that of a shirt, outer coat, etc.
Recent combat experience has identified a problem that arises in combat. During live fire engagements with an enemy, when one soldier has been wounded and has fallen, his comrades will attempt to drag the fallen soldier out of danger to a position of safety where the soldier can receive medical attention and evacuation. Doing so, however, leaves the rescuing soldier himself open to enemy fire. Typically the rescuing soldier takes his attention off the enemy, bends down, and grasps the fallen soldier to drag the fallen soldier out of the line of fire. Often the rescuing soldier must also lower his weapon and swing it to his side or back in order to hold and move his comrade. If the rescuer needs two hands to grab and move his comrade, such as when the badly wounded soldier must be carefully moved, the rescuing soldier must free both hands from his weapon by swinging it clear. A downed soldier is typically grasped and pulled by any convenient means such as an arm, leg, clothing, or even an edge of the armored vest. In so doing, even quickly, the rescuing soldier often will cease firing his own weapon and take his attention away from the enemy. However, an enemy can continue firing upon the wounded and the rescuing soldier, and the rescuing soldier will need to depend on other soldiers in his squad to maintain covering fire on the enemy. Additionally, during the rescue, the rescuing soldier's weapon is taken out of fire momentarily and the squad's fire power is then lessened. Unfortunately, post action reports indicate that rescuing soldiers have themselves been wounded when exposed and vulnerable during the act of rescuing a brother soldier. It would be desired to develop an armored vest that helps avoid these problems.
In the kind of fire fight discussed above, there is also a high premium on moving the wounded soldier to safety very quickly. The wounded soldier may have fallen in an area that is vulnerable to ongoing enemy fire. The enemy may continue to fire into the wounded soldier. In the heat of battle, unless the wounded soldier is quickly moved, he may receive further, even lethal wounds. And the quicker a soldier gets medical attention, the more likely he is to recover. It would be highly desirable, then, to provide a means to move a wounded soldier out of the immediate fire zone very quickly and without denying a rescuing soldier the ability to return fire.
Armored vests also suffer shortcomings in the freedom of movement they allow a wearer. The armor plating, for example, does not provide any significant degree of “give” or flexibility in relation to the wearer. Additionally, the woven material that surrounds and supports the armor plating may not provide adequate “give” to afford sufficient freedom of movement to the soldier. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved armored vest that provides increased freedom of movement to the wearer.
The above discussion has focused on difficulties that combat soldiers encounter, but it will be understood that similar problems can be encountered by police personnel and any other lawful combatant group.
There has been identified a need that can be provided by an improved ballistic resistant garment. It would be desired to provide an armored vest or other garment that assists in the removal of a wounded combatant. More particularly it would be desirable for an improved armored garment to allow a rescuer to pull and move a wounded combatant in a manner that allows the rescuer to continue to face the enemy and to fire a weapon. It would also be desirable if an improved armored vest were to allow for increased freedom of movement to its wearer. Embodiments of the present invention address one or more of these needs.